Domestic incinerator



May 13,1930. H. 1... WARREN DOMESTIC INCINERATOR Fil ed Ma i'ch 21, 19272 Sheets-Sheet 2 z 6 07 7%%/// U/ b ////////////////M/ 7 r INVENTOR "Illa zZwv 6 a; M i

ATTORNEY Patented ma 13, teen BEE-9,482

i HARRY L. WARREN, OF ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA DOMESTIC INCINERATORApplication filed March 21, 1927. Serial No. 177,115.

My invention relates to incinerators for domestic use in the consumptionby burning of domestic refuse, such as garbage, paper and cloth. I i

It is a purpose of my invention to provide a domestic incinerator whichrapidly desiccates refuse and maintains a sufficiently high stacktemperature to drive 05 volatile moisture without recondensation in theinciner- 1o ator or in the stack; provides an adequate oxygen supply andhightemperature to rapidly and completely burn fats, proteins andcarbohydrates without decomposition and without distillation; completelyburnsfree 1 carbon before it finds its way to the ash container, and allto the end of completelyconsuming refuse, and more particularly garbage,without appreciable odor. Y

My invention also involves a method of burning refuse by which theadvantages just enumerated are accomplished.

I will describe only one method of and one incinerator for burningrefuse, each embodying my invention, and will then point out the novelfeatures thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a view showing in vertical section one form of incineratorembodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a view showing in top plan, with the cover removed, theincinerator shown in Figure 1;

Figures 3 and4 are sectional views taken on the lines 33 and 4 4,respectively, of Figure 2.

The incinerator, in its present embodiment, comprises a firebox ofcubical form, preferably supported in elevated position by means of legs15 extending downwardly from the four corners of the firebox. Thefirebox is constructed of heat insulating material 16 lined on itsinside with a coating of highly refractorymateriall? and protected onits outer side by a metal casing 18. The interior construction of thefirebox is such as to provide a chamber 19 of cylindrical form, theupper end of which is open but normally closed by means of a door 20.The lower end of the chamber 19 is in communication with a sub-chamber21 of a diameter stantially air-tight joint and thereby effectively'close the upper end of the chamber when the door is in applied position.v a

At the junction of the chambers 19 and 21 are bars 24 upon which aresupported a basket T formed of metal rods and adapted to contain refuse,the spacing of therods-being such as to allow free access of a flame tothe refuse, bothat the sides and bottom of the basket. The constructionof the basket is such as to provide an annular chamber between thecircular wall of the chamber 19 and the outer wall of the basket, andthrough this annular chamber a flame is adapted to travel in effectingconsumption of the refuse contained in the basket, as will be more fullydescribed hereinafter.

The firebox is formed with a cylindrical tunnel or opening 25 and a ventopening 26. Both of these openings are provided with pipe extensions 25and 26*, respectively, the latter being adapted for connection with achimney or stack for conducting from the in cinerator oxidized gases andvapors. It. is important to note that the axis of the burner tunnel isinclined at an angle of substantially 30 with respect to the horizontaland is disposed at a tangent with respect to-the wall of the chamber 19.A gaseous or liquid fuel burner B of any suitable form extends into theburner tunnel, as clearlyillustrated in Figure 4, and is disposed alongthe longitudinal axis of the tunnel, as illustrated in Figure 1. Boththe tunnel and vent opening are situated adjacent the top of thefirebox, with the vent opening substantially alongside of the tunnel.ltis important to note the relation of the tunnel and vent opening withre spect to each other and with respect to the chamber 19 they are vitalto the rapid and complete burning of refuse. In addition to the ventopening 26, which willbe referred to hereinafter as the primary ventopening, I

' f llllii bars 24, Both ends of the pipe are open in order to permit adraft upwardly of the vertical portion 29 into the horizontal port on'28 and from the latter to the stack.

To provide the necessary space forthe proper projection of thaflameemanating from the burner B into the chamber 19 in order'that it maytravel spirally downward about the basket T as intended, the basket isformedwith a vertically disposed flattened portion t which entirelyclears the inner end of thetunnel 25, as illustrated in Figure 2,

in order that it may not interfere with the incoming current of airinduced by reason of the burner and the primary vent opening 26.

The operation. of the incinerator is as fol lows: The burner B employedis of the long flame type and when in operation projects a flamedownward and tangent to the chamber wall. Owing to the velocityof thefuel or flame, a current of cold air from the atmosphere is induced intothe firebox chamber. The velocity of this air current is increased byvirtue of the fact that the draft of the stack connected to the primaryvent opening 26, creates a suction of air through the turn nel 25 sothat the draft of the stack is uti lized in augmenting the velocity andvolume.

of cold air induced. As the burner tunnel is concentric with the burnernozzle, this induced air currenthas a downward velocity head. Then,too,-as the induced air is cold and, hence, of greater density than thegases inthe firebox, this air tendsto drop to the bottom of the firebox,thereby assisting the flame in its downward course around the chamberwall and basket. The flame con tinues to describe this spiral courseuntil its force is spent in overcoming its frictional contact withthechamber wall when the high temperature of the products of combustionresultantfrom the burning refuse and the flameritself causes-the flameto travel upward.

The draft ofth'e primary vent 26 exerts a force having a vertical andhorizontal component, while the secondary vent exerts a horizontal forceupon the flame. These three forces, namely, the velocity head of theflame,

the draft of the primary vent, and the draft of the secondary ventcausethe flame to travel spirally downward along the chamber wall andthenspread out under the grate as a result of the action of the draft ofthe sec-- ondary vent so thatthe sub-chamber 21 and the space betweenthe wall of the chamber 19 and the basket T are filled with the flame.In

other words, the velocity head of the combustible mixture forces theflame downward,

while the Wall of the chamber causes the flame to travel circularly withthe result that it has a spiral downward path between the chamber walland the basket. The primary vent exerts a vertical force, causing theflame to spread vertically and cover the chamber wall, while thesecondary vent exerts a horizontal force which causes the flame tospread out under the grate and hence under the body of refuse.

If the primary vent is placed materially above the burner tunnel and lowpressure gas is used, the flame will not travel as low as the grate andwill short circuit to the vent. The position of the vent opening 26above the burner tunnel and to the side thereof shown in Fig. 1, resultsin the flame issuing from the burner, having to travel a distance equalto approximately 300 around the circumference of the chamber 19, beforearriving at a point vertically below the vent opening, so that thetendency of the natural draft of air produced by the vent opening, toprematurely draw the flame upwardly, will be eliminated, and willfinally produce an up ward vertical spreading of the flame when thelatter has reached a point below the hasket T so as to envelope thebottom of the lat ter as well as its sides, in a sheet of flame.

With the basket T completely .or partly filled with refuse through thedoor 20, the radiation heatof the refractory walls, together with theheat of the enveloping flame itself, rapidly burns the refuse. Theresultant gases and vapors distilled pass through a zone of hightemperature and plentiful. oxygen supply and are thus thoroughlyoXidized before they pass through the vent openings, thus securingsubstantially odorless combustion.

The burnt material in the form of ash is collected in the ash pan 22 andremoved through the door 23.

Providingthe bars 24 are sufliciently numerous to prevent the refusefrom dropping into the ash pan, it is possible to eliminate the basket Tand dump refuse directly into the chamber 19 and still successfully burnthe refuse without appreciable odor, although the burning is somewhatslow until the flame has burnt a circular path about the refusecorresponding substantially to the annular space between the basket andfirebox wall when the flame will be free to envelope the entire body ofrefuse and thus PlO-CQGL to rapidly and completely consume the refuseand thoroughly oxidize the resultant gases and vapors before they passto the stack.

Although I have herein described only one method of burning refuse, andshown and described only one form of incinerator, embodying myinvention, it is to be understood that various changes and modificationsmay be made therein without departing from the spirit of the inventionand the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An incinerator comprising a firebox having a burner opening in thewall thereof, a gaseous fuel burner in the opening positioned to directa flame emanating therefrom downwardly in the'firebox, the contour ofthe inner wall of the firebox and the disposition of the'burner theretobeing such that the flame emanating from the burner will be deflected bythe inner wall and caused to travel downwardly and spirally in thefirebox, a vent opening in the wall of the firebox disposed slightlyabove and to one side of the burner, and a pipe extending downwardlyfrom the vent opening to a point within the firebox to cause the flameto spread at the bottom of the firebox.

2. An incinerator comprising a firebox having a burner opening in thewall thereof, a gaseous fuel burner in the opening posi-' tioned todirect a flame emanating therefrom downwardly in the firebox, thecontour of the inner wall of the firebox and the disposition of theburner thereto being such that the flame emanating from the burner willbe deflected by the inner wall and caused to travel downwardly andspirally in the firebox, and a vent opening in the wall of the fireboxso positioned with respect to said burner that a flame emanating fromthe latter must travel in its downward spiral path, the major portion ofthe distance around the contour of the inner wall before arriving at apoint vertically alined with the vent opening.

3. An incinerator comprising a firebox having a burner opening in thewall thereof, a gaseous fuel burner in the opening positioned to directa flame emanating therefrom downwardly in the firebox, the contour ofthe inner wall of the firebox and the disposition of the burner theretobeing such that the flame emanating from the burner will be deflected bythe inner wall and caused to travel downwardly and spirally in thefirebox, and a vent opening in the wall of the firebox disposed at apoint slightly above and to such side of the burner nozzle that a flameemanating from the latter must travel in its downward spiral path, themajor portion of the distance around the contour of the inner wallbefore arriving at a point vertically below thevent opening, whereby thetendency of the natural draft of air produced by the vent opening toprematurely draw the flame up-.

wardly, will be reduced to a minimum, and will finally cause an upwardvertical spreading of the flame.

4. An incinerator comprising a firebox having a cylindrical inner wall,a tunnel in the firebox communicating tangentially with the interior ofthe firebox and inclined down wardly, a fuel burner disposed within thetunnel, a primary "vent in the firebox com-- municating withthe'interior of the firebox,

a secondary vent communicating with the.

primary vent and. with the interior of the firebox at a point belowtheprimary vent,

a basket in the firebox, and means for supporting the basket in aposition spaced from: the inner wall and bottom of the firebox." j 5. Anincinerator as embodied in claim 4 wherein said basket is provided witha vertical flattened portion adjacent the inner end of the burner tunnelfor the purpose described.

6. An incinerator comprising a firebox travel downwardly and spirally inthe firebox, a primary vent in the firebox communicating with theinterior of the latter, a sec-- ondary vent'communicating with theprimary vent and with the interior of the firebox at a p'ointbelow theprimary vent, a'basket in the firebox, and means for supporting thebasket'in a position spaced from the inner wall and bottom ofthefirebox. 7. An incinerator comprising a firebox having a tunnelcommunicating with the.in-. terior of the firebox, a burner inthe'tunnel positioned to directaits flame against the downwardly of theinner wall of the firebox at an angle to a perpendicular and spaced fromthe wall of the tunnel so as to permit unheated air to be drawn into thefirebox around the burner under the action of the latter and therebyassist in the downward travel of the flame, and a vent in the fire boxcommunicating with the interior of the latter 7 8. An incineratorcomprising a firebox having a tunnel communicating with-the interior ofthe firebox, a burner in the tunnel positioned to direct its flameagainst and downwardly of the inner wall of the firebox at an angle to aperpendicular, a primary vent in the firebox communicating with theinterior of the latter, a secondary vent communicating with the primaryvent and with the interior of the firebox at a point below the primaryvent, and a basket in the firebox, supported in spaced relation to theinner wall and bottom of the firebox.

I 9. An incinerator comprising a firebox havbox, a primary vent in thefirebox communicating with the interior of thelatter, and a secondaryvent communicating with the 1nterior of thefirebox at a point below thepri- 5 mary vent; I

10. An incinerator comprising a firebox having a burner positioned todirect a'fiame issuing-"therefrom, downwardly in the firebox, thecontour of the inner wall of the firebox and the'disposition of theburner thereto being such thatthe flame from the burner will bedeflected by'the inner wall and caused to travel downwardly and spirallyin the firebox, a vent in the firebox communicating with the interior ofthe latter, and means for over coming the action of the vent in tendingto rematurely draw the flame out of the fireox,'so that the flame willbe free to traverse its downward spiral path.

11. An incinerator comprising a firebox having a burner positioned todirect a flame issuing therefrom, downwardly in the firebox, the contourof the inner wall of the firebox and the disposition of the burnerthereto being such that'the flame from the burner will be deflected bythe inner wall and caused to travel downwardly and spirally in thefirebox, a Vent in the firebox communicating with the interior of thelatter, and means for overcoming. the action of thevent in tending toprematurely draw the flame out of the firebox,

and being disposed tocause spreading of the flame in the firebox. t

12. An incinerator comprising a firebox as having a tunnel communicatingwith the interior of the firebox, a burner in the tunnel positioned todirect its flame against and downwardly of the inner wall of the fireboxat an angle to a perpendicular, a primary vent m in the fireboxcommunicating with the in terior of the latter, and a basket in the firebox, supported in spaced relation to the inner wall and bottom of thefirebox, the basket being provided with a vertical flattenedportion'adjacent the inner end of the burner tunnel. s

' HARRY L. WARREN.

